Meet scientists from Argonne with unusual hobbies and interests—and how they bring science to bear on them. Mike Kern is an Argonne engineer by day, but on weekends, he's a crew chief for the National Hot Rod Association.

When a massive tsunami knocked out power to the Fukushima Daiichi reactors in Japan two years ago, Argonne personnel combed the countryside to measure radiation levels around the reactors. Other Argonne scientists consulted for the Department of Energy, lending their expertise in the very scenario that experts believed took place at Fukushima: nuclear fuel eroding the concrete floor beneath the reactor.

As the first Northwestern University faculty member to participate in the new Argonne-Northwestern mini-sabbatical program, Michael Miksis has had the opportunity to collaborate with Argonne researchers in the Mathematics and Computer Science division and make valuable connections with scientists of various disciplines.